Safe house
by zman123
Summary: Nazz and her friends must escape from Kevin's (aka: Al Capone) evil gang of bullies after a near death experience with the neighborhood that has turned against them. respite. Will they finally find peace as they leave the rotten neighborhood known as "peach creek" behind them? Or will Kevin and his evil mob have the last laugh?. Nazz x Eddy. Sarah x Edd
1. prolouge

**_Prologue: the events so far_**

 ** _A brief summary of the events during "Nazz vs Kevin"_**

It was another unbearable day for poor Eddy, when Kevin came to beat him up once more.

And poor, unfortunate Eddy was barbarically beaten till every part of his body bled and he felt incredibly sore

But then came a blonde girl by the name of Nazz Van Bartonscheer.

Whose anger at the cruel things Kevin did to Eddy, finally let her overcome her fears

She condemned Kevin for his misdeeds, with the intention he would finally realize the error of his ways.

But Kevin would have none of it, he even tried to kill Nazz but Nazz was able to keep him at bay

She sent him running, and apologized to Eddy for all the crimes she had committed in the past

And confessed her true feelings for Eddy which she had kept hidden over the years, with the intention of forming a relationship which she hoped would last.

And later defended him from the wrath of Kevin's right hand man, an evil demon known as "Rolf"

After this, when Kevin and Rolf disappeared from the neighbourhood for a while, Nazz switched sides, betraying the bullies and siding with Eddy and his friends.

She hoped in this way, she could make amends

For a while they were happy, through teamwork, and with Nazz's help, they made a lot of money, they built a theme park with cool rides.

And Eddy finally had happiness in his life of misery, he finally had jawbreakers and a girlfriend who took his side

They ran a successful business for a while, and for a while the money rolled in

And all thanks to their new friend Nazz, they had finally created a scam which did not go into the bin

Then three evil sisters known as "the Kankers" came to spoil the happiness, they took the Eds away to be tortured after leaving Nazz tied to a cross

But luckily, an unexpected ally whose name was Sarah, came and set Nazz free, and together they showed the Kankers who was boss

And Sarah finally apologized to her brother "Ed" and told him from now on, she would take his side

She told him she was sorry that she had caused so much pain to him because of her vanity and pride

Life was good for a while, but alas, all good things had to come to an end

When Kevin and Rolf returned on that dark and rainy abend

They came with the intention of killing all of Nazz's new friends, and taking Nazz away to be Kevin's slave

But Nazz refused his proposal, and because of sheer luck and through an incredibly fortunate turn of events, Nazz and her friends were all saved

But alas Kevin had changed, he had turned to a life of crime and changed his name to Al Capone

And bribed the neighborhood with jawbreakers to join his mob. He was not alone.

And he would never stop until he murdered the Eds, and forced Nazz to join his side once more

You'd better run Nazz, you'd better run while you can, or soon you and your friends will find yourselves on death's door.

And so begins our tale, a tale of five friends trying to flee for their lives

Trying to flee from an evil gang led by a maniac, armed with both lethal guns and razor sharp knives

 ** _Introducing the Characters_**

 _ **The Eds**_

Ed: He's the weak link of the group trying to flee from Kevin. Naive and clumsy most of the time, his clumsiness can be a hindrance to the group if he is not kept under constant watch. But he can have moments of unrivaled cleverness if pushed to it. He is somehow strong enough to lift loads that would make even the strongest weightlifters green with envy but his gentle and mild nature prevents him from being violent enough to pose much of a threat to anyone unless they upset him. His outfit consists of a white and red t-shirt, purple jeans and trainers.

Edd (aka:Eddward) : If Ed were to be described as the legs of the group, Edd would be the brains. He is an avid and very promising young scientist who can always be trusted to come up with very clever schemes to get the group out of trouble. He can build machines and other inventions very quickly with his superb engineering skills. He is easily the one with the most common sense in the group. Though mentally strong, he is physically weak and hates exercise. Also dislikes violence and conflict. His outfit consists of a red shirt, black shorts and trainers.

Eddy: A poorly misunderstood and badly mistreated young boy who suffered horrific abuse throughout his life, Eddy was sad, depressed and lonely until he found friends who truly loved him for who he was. Though he appeared selfish and uncaring, deep down he is a good person with only a few bad ideas. His dream is to live among friends who care about him and accept him for who he is. He has a craving for jawbreakers, a kind of hard candy which is very hard to chew. He wears a yellow shirt with a red stripe, jeans and trainers.

Sarah: A new member of the group, until recently Sarah was loud, bossy and another one of the many bullies who harassed the Eds on a day to day basis. With Nazz's help however, Sarah swore to mend her ways and to try and become a better person. She was forgiven by her brother Ed, and became the second person in the neighborhood to turn against Kevin. She has a crush for Edd which has only grown stronger now that she has turned away from Kevin and joined the Eds. She hopes one day her actions will show her brother that she has changed for the better. Her new outfit consists of a pink tank top, blue jeans and pink shoes. She has ginger hair.

Nazz(aka:doll face): In another time and place, Nazz would have been very popular among the neighborhood and would have had no need to run away from it. Not here and now though. After years of watching as Eddy and his friends rejected by the evil society of the neighborhood, she finally found the courage to stand up to Kevin. However, this made Kevin incredibly angry, and shocked. This created tension which forced Nazz and her friends to flee the neighborhood after they were nearly killed by Kevin and his gang of bullies. Nazz loves Eddy and hopes that now that they have fled from Kevin, their relationship can go further. She currently strives to find a safe place where her friends and her can live a peaceful and calm life, free from Kevin and his evil gang of bullies. Nazz has shoulder length blonde hair, a black shirt and a white tank top. She likes it when people call her a double crosser or a turncoat.

 _ **The capone mob**_

The four horsemen: After Nazz betrayed him to the Eds, Kevin suffered several nervous breakdowns. He was half mad with grief at losing his girlfriend to his worst enemies (the Eds) and half furious that Nazz had double crossed him. His depression caused him to become a heavy smoker and severe alcoholic and caused him to turn to a life of crime. Though he was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes which he committed while on holiday in Florida, he sneaked out of prison and escaped in a police car with the help of a corrupt policeman. Considering his old self to have died, he changed his name to Al Capone and with the help of the other neighborhood kids who admired him he intended to recreate "the capone mob" and to bring terror and lawlessness back to America. He and his three best friends also began calling themselves "the four horsemen".

Al Capone (aka:death): Formerly known as Kevin. Cruel and maniacal, he took great pleasure in torturing the Eds and hated them though they did nothing wrong to him. He hopes to recapture the Eds so that he can continue to torture them for his own enjoyment. He also wishes to recapture Nazz and convince her to love him again, as despite the fact she has betrayed him to the Eds, he is still madly in love with her.

Tony Accardo "Big tuna" (aka:famine): Formerly known as Rolf. He is Kevin's right hand man and accomplice. He was the first person to join "the Capone mob" and is equally as psychotic and evil as Kevin. He hopes that when they recapture the Eds, he can zap their bodies with electricity.

Sam Hunt "Golfbag" (aka:war): Formerly known as Johnny. He is warped into believing the piece of wood which he carries around with him is a living being. Has severe mental health problems. He takes great pleasure from seeing the suffering of others, and secretly also loves Nazz. He hopes that when they recapture the Eds, he will get a kiss from Nazz and that she will hold his hand.

"Baby face" Nelson (aka:pestilence): Formerly known as Jimmy, Sarah's girlfriend. Despite being a seemingly young and innocent and naive boy, he is perhaps even more sadistic than Kevin. He loves seeing the Eds being tortured in the most painful way possible. He wears a retainer as his teeth were badly damaged in a childhood incident some years ago. He thinks it was Eddy's fault his teeth were damaged, when in reality it was Kevin who damaged his teeth and Kevin who framed Eddy for damaging Jimmy's teeth. He is a spoiled brat who cries to get attention. He has no concern for the well being of others, only himself. He still hopes that one day Sarah will come back and be his girlfriend once more and that together they will go back to torturing the Eds.

The Kankers(aka:sisters of war): A trio of three sisters who take great pleasure in abusing boys, especially the Eds . They joined the Capone mob after Kevin promised them huge sums of money, as well as a chance to have a date with the Eds when they found the Eds. They love the Eds, and take great pleasure in abusing the Eds, especially kissing them. Their names are Lee, Marie and May.

 ** _Present day_**

The Eds, Nazz and Sarah are sitting aboard a bus that will take them away from the "cul de sac" they have lived in for ten years. They do not know where the bus will take them however but they hope that Kevin will never be able to find them ever again. They know that if Kevin catches them, they are all dead and Nazz will once again belong to Kevin. The story begins.


	2. take it on the lam

**_Chapter 1: Take it on the lam_**

safe house: a house in a secret location, used by spies or criminals in hiding.

It was a bright, sunny morning. Birds chirped and a gentle breeze blew across the horizon. And on a lonely highway, an old and run down bus, nearly empty, was going about its journey as buses do.

The bus was empty, save for five young teenagers who sat staring out of the window into the distance, wondering what fate had in store for them. Sometimes one of them would peer backwards nervously and then breathe a huge sigh of relief when they found there was no other vehicle in sight.

The five youths who sat together were lifelong friends, or at least three of them were. The other two had only recently joined the circle of friends, but nonetheless demonstrated fierce loyalty to the others. The two that had only just joined had until recently, unfortunately been enemies to the other three but had promised to mend their ways as best they could and were forgiven for their actions of the past.

There were three boys and two girls, the three boys all had Ed as their names, or at least variations of it anyway. They were called Ed, Eddward or Edd for short and Eddy and though they were all flawed in their own ways and different to each other in so many aspects, it was these differences and imperfections that made them appreciate each other all the more even if they did not admit it often. It was because of these flaws after all, that they depended on each other for support and security in an unforgiving and cruel world where trustworthy people were hard to come by.

The two girls had been bullies until of them more so than the other. They admitted that.  
They told the boys that they were deeply regretful of their actions of the past, and that though they could not change the things they had already done, they promised the boys that if they were but given another chance then they would make a positive difference where they could. They vowed to change for the better, and so sincere were their apologies that the boys (or the Eds as they were more commonly known as) forgave them.

The two girls were known as "Sarah" and "Nazz". It was Nazz who first realized how wrong her actions were, and Nazz who persuaded Sarah to change for the better too. They were once bullies too albeit to a lesser extent than some of the other worse bullies in their neighborhood, but they were bullies nonetheless. Nazz later told Eddy that she only harassed him and his friends because Kevin (the "mob leader" of the bullies in the neighborhood) forced her to and that he threatened to kill her unless she bullied the Eds alongside him. Nazz told Eddy that though this did not lessen her guilt in the slightest, she wanted Eddy to know that she never held a grudge against him or any of his friends and that when she did bully him, it was never intentional nor was it with the intention to hurt or inconvenience anyone. She would much rather have Eddy as her friend, but Kevin would not allow it, he would murder her if he caught her hanging around Eddy and his friends.

And that was when Nazz decided it was time to rebel against Kevin, that day when she saw Eddy lying on the ground unconscious from Kevin's beating. She realized that day, that she had been selfish in leaving Eddy to be brutally tortured by Kevin and the other bullies when she should have taken action to stop this unfair and harsh treatment.

In that moment, she no longer cared if it would make her enemies with every bully in the neighborhood, she decided it was time to become what she had wanted to become a long time ago. A double crosser and a turncoat. She stood up to Kevin and after a long and violent fight, she sent Kevin fleeing in shame, and took from him his wallet which was full of money he had stolen from Eddy. She handed the wallet to Eddy and in return, Eddy forgave Nazz and accepted her as a friend who he could trust in.

She later stood up to Rolf, Kevin's evil minion and taught him a lesson he would not soon forget as punishment for all the horrible things he did to Eddy over the years. For a while, Kevin and Rolf left the neighborhood and for a while, an uneasy truce came into being. But that short yet sweet bliss ended when Kevin and Rolf returned. They had changed. They had become alcoholics and heavy smokers who had no sense of right and wrong. And because Kevin and Rolf were popular among the neighborhood, they had turned the neighborhood on the Eds once more.

Kevin said in that moment, that if Nazz were to betray her new friends the Eds, and come back onto his side, he would spare her and her alone. Nazz refused and because lady luck was smiling down upon Nazz and her friends that day, they escaped the neighborhood by the skin of their teeth. They realized that to go back to that horrible place was suicide, and thus had no choice but to flee. They knew if Kevin and his gang found them, then the Eds would all be as good as dead and Nazz would spend the rest of her days as Kevin's pet, a life she never wished to return to ever again.

It was hard to believe how Nazz had changed in the last weeks, the girl that once hung with Kevin wherever he went and seemed desperate for his attention at every turn, that girl now held Kevin as her most bitter enemy. People really could change if they just set their minds to it, Eddy had learned.

"I never liked Kevin, he isn't a nice person" stated Nazz, making small talk "But if I didn't do what he told me to do, he'd murder me".

"That's okay, Nazz" replied Edd, though it was easier for him to talk without stumbling around Nazz now (for Nazz was one of those so very attractive people who made every boy who saw her into a shy and shivering mumbler) he still could not help blushing madly "We know now you're sorry for what you did, and that you mean differently now".

"Thanks dude" said Nazz gratefully "that's nice of you."

"Its all water under the bridge now" sighed Eddy, as he breathed a huge sigh of relief "And soon we'll be far away from Kevin and his group of losers and we can start over. Have a new life in a good place where people aren't selfish jerks."

"You said it Eddy" exclaimed Ed cheerfully as he grinned with the idea of being away from Kevin and his gang of evil bullies "You said it".

"Yeah" chuckled Sarah nervously, it was still hard for her to accept the fact that the Eds had long forgiven her as she still felt so much regret for what she once did to them, especially her brother "Ed".

Sarah had been another bully in Kevin's gang not too long ago, and worst of all was that though Ed had been a very kind and loving brother to Sarah, she still chose to abuse him mercilessly. She tried to get Ed into trouble at every opportunity simply because she was sadistic and liked seeing Ed suffer simply because he was the less popular child in the family. But Ed had been incredibly patient with her, though he was strong enough to bust every bone in her body (for he was much bigger and stronger than Sarah), he loved Sarah so much he never complained in the slightest when she came to abuse him. He really was the best brother anyone could hope to have. And now Sarah could not help but feel as if she was the worst person alive, when she thought of all the times she had not repaid her brother's kindness, and chosen to bully him instead.

"Ah its okay, Sarah" soothed Ed, putting his arm around Sarah's shoulder when he saw she was about to cry "no one's perfect and I could never hate you no matter what you did to me. I love you." "Thanks brother" replied Sarah, smiling weakly "thanks for always being there for me. You're the best".

The group sat in silence for the next hour, asleep. They had paid for the bus driver to drive them as far as the bus went, and they had no idea how far they had left to travel and where they would end up. All they cared about was that whatever place they ended up, they would be safe from Kevin and his evil mob.

The bus continued to speed along the highway, the engine roaring as it went. And the five friends knew full well they had almost no possessions with them. Yet they took comfort from the fact they had each other, and that was a lot.

Yet trouble was never far behind. And though the gang were not looking for trouble, trouble was looking for them.


	3. mob power

_**Chapter 3: mob power: The Capone mob and the four horsemen**_

Meanwhile Kevin stamped his foot in frustration as he quickly searched one house after the other in the neighborhood only to find no sign of Nazz, Sarah or any of the Eds.

He roared furiously as he ripped open the door to Nazz's house and furiously rifled through the drawers, desperate to find any clue as to her whereabouts. Nothing useful was found, and all her possessions were left as they were, she had not chosen to take anything with her and this clearly meant that if she had left then she was clearly in a hurry.

Kevin bawled as he tore open the cupboards in the kitchen, and when there was nothing useful inside them, he grabbed a huge pile of glass plates and hurled them to the ground and shattered them to pieces. He then picked up a chair and smashed it repeatedly against a table until the chair had broken into several fragments, it was almost impossible to tell from its remains that it had once been a dining chair. "AAAAAHHH!" yelled Kevin as he punched himself on the forehead in frustration, clearly angry with himself.

Then his anger turned to Nazz as he picked up a photo of his former girlfriend which was taped to the wall. "Nazz, you bitch" he bellowed as he tore the photo to shreds and lifted his middle finger as he did so "You stupid, stupid bitch. You and Sarah are bitches who are just as bad as the Ed dorks", he grumbled and growled.

Kevin had changed a lot in the last few weeks, prison life did that to you. While he was on holiday in Florida, he had become increasingly angry that his girlfriend which he dedicated his life to pleasing had ditched him and taken another boy. And what was worse was that the other boy was Eddy, and in his opinion Eddy was nothing more than a useless pile of garbage. And now that Nazz had left him, he really had no reason to live anymore. Never again would he see that beautiful look in those big blue eyes of hers when she smiled at him, or hear her sweet, heavenly voice when she spoke to him. Nor would he feel the indescribably euphoric sensation he felt when she cheered for him after he had just won a football match or some other sport game or when he showed his amazing skateboard tricks to her. Nazz the cheerleader, would cheer for him nevermore, and that made him feel as if life was no longer worth living for. What point was there in trying to achieve anything when there was no one to applaud you for your achievements anymore.

Now when Nazz did cheer, it was for Eddy and when she did smile, it was at Eddy and this made Kevin feel as if everything good in his life had been robbed from him unfairly. He was of course, too stupid to begin to wonder whether he had brought it on himself or not. Those days when he could but watch as Nazz and Eddy walked hand in hand ,were days that he hoped he would never have to see. The way Nazz ignored him as she stared at Eddy with love-filled eyes, broke Kevin's heart and made him feel absolutely awful. He felt as if he would rather die than have to see such a horrible sight. For the first time in his life, he felt the pain Eddy had felt for ten long years, he felt like an ignored and mistreated outcast. And worst of all was that Nazz was once his girlfriend, but Kevin had lost her to his worst enemy and that made Kevin mad.

He begged Nazz for another chance, he made all sorts of pathetic excuses and pleaded desperately like a pathetic loser. Yet Nazz refused to even acknowledge his presence when he came near her to try and apologize, she knew Kevin was not sorry in the slightest. Kevin's trip to Florida was supposed to take his mind away from the fact that his girlfriend had double crossed him and that he would likely never find a girl as incredible as "Nazz"ever again. It went well until one day while he was relaxing on the beach, he saw a blonde girl kissing a boy full on the lips. That was when all his anger came back upon him and he threw himself at the boy like a savage animal. He grabbed the boy by the neck and strangled him until he was dead.

He tried to run, but the blonde girl grabbed his arm and pinned him to the ground as she dialed 911. "What are you doing, let me go" yelled Kevin. "No" retorted the girl "You've just killed my boyfriend, you meanie".

Kevin struggled and tried to get free, there was no one else on the beach that day but the girl tied him up with a skipping rope she had brought with her and cuffed his hand with a pair of handcuffs. "Now this is what I call a good federal crackdown, I love federal crackdowns" taunted the girl.

When the policeman came later, the girl explained the situation to him. "Good work sweetie" remarked the policeman. Kevin tried to insist that he had not meant what he did, he begged for mercy but the policeman would give none of it. "Give him life in prison daddy" begged the girl "I want him to stay in prison until he dies".

Kevin tried to beg for mercy once more, but ultimately he was given life in prison with no parole. He deserved it for all the horrible things he did to Eddy, and yet somehow he still thought he was innocent.  
He was thrown in jail along with Rolf, who had also got himself into trouble when he strangled three boys to death when they told him their names were "Edwin, Edison and Edbert" and his hatred for "Ed boys" consumed him.

Far from teaching Kevin and Rolf a lesson about how wrong their actions were, they instead became worse than ever. As the first week of his life in prison passed, horrible changes came over Kevin and Rolf. It began with a growing urge to smoke and drink alcohol, as well as smoke cocaine. Kevin who was still not sorry for what he had done, decided his old self had died. He vowed to make a change, but not one for the better.

He changed his name to Al Capone, and Rolf changed his name to Tony Accardo (or "big Tuna" as he preferred to be called) . Together, they formulated a very crafty escape plan. It was so elaborate that I could not begin to describe it, Suffice it to say, the two criminal masterminds crept out of prison leaving the guards no wiser, and even managed to steal one of the police cars in the process which they drove away in.

Kevin drove back to the "Cul de sac" with the sole intention of killing the Eds and to convince Nazz to be his girlfriend once more. He very nearly succeeded, but thanks to a well placed distraction , the Eds and Nazz escaped, leaving him to wallow in his misery.

Kevin created a gang with the neighborhood kids still loyal to him. He called his gang "the Capone mob" and promised everyone who joined his gang a very handsome payment if they joined him to track down the Eds. Everyone agreed of course, no one could resist the allure of so many delicious jawbreakers which Kevin would pay them if they joined his mob. And everyone who joined Kevin's mob changed their title to suit the fact they were now a member of "the Capone mob".

Kevin's mob consisted of the Kankers, Jimmy, Johnny and Rolf. The Kankers called themselves "the sisters of war" when they joined the "Capone mob", while the boys in Kevin's mob began to refer to each other as "the four horsemen".

Kevin, or Al Capone as he was now called began referring to himself as "death".

Tony Accardo "Big Tuna"(formerly Rolf) began referring to himself as "famine".

Sam Hunt "Golfbag"(formerly known as Johnny) began calling himself "war"

And Babyface Nelson (formerly known as Jimmy) titled himself "pestilence"

Their mission, scour America and the world until they found the Eds and to capture Nazz and Sarah.

"We need to find out where those foul ups took of to" announced Kevin (Al Capone) the next day when he called the neighborhood together.

"But where do we start looking, is the question" stated Rolf (Tony Accardo"Big Tuna").

"Well, Plank says we should uh, start looking for clues." added Johnny, looking at the piece of wood he carried around him everywhere he went.

"Hmmm, well we'd better start looking fast girls, cause our boyfriends owe us a whole lot of mouth to mouth time" sneered Lee as her sisters nodded in agreement.

As the group continued to break into discussion, Kevin looked up to the sky.

"Well played dorks" he said sarcastically "game on".


	4. safe house

**_chapter 4: Safe house: Finding shelter_**

The bus eventually stopped at a building somewhere in the countryside. There were no other buildings in sight and only dense woodland surrounded the dull and monotonous grey column of a building. "This is as far as I go" stated the driver "now get out, all of you."

"Thank you sir" replied Nazz politely, tossing him the one coin she had left in her pocket as a tip before politely stepping out of the bus after wishing the man a good day. Her friends followed and watched as the bus's door closed and the bus sped off into the distance.

"So where are we going anyway?" asked Sarah as the friends began stood there in absolute silence, unsure what to do next and unaware they were being pursued by the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the four leaders of the newly formed Capone mob. The Kanker sisters were hot on their trail too.

"Well" suggested Edd "I suggest uh, we follow this track and see where it takes us". He pointed to a crudely paved track which led into the woods. "But double D" quavered Ed, shivering with fright "there might be mutants hiding in those creepy woods, just waiting to eat us all up. We can't go in there".

"But Ed" protested Eddy "We can't just stay here, and you never know, that path might take us to a city or something. I agree with double D on this one and I think we should get going, its getting dark". "Exactly my thoughts, dude" remarked Nazz "Well... once it gets dark it'll be hard for us to keep going so I think we'd better get started."

With no further discussion, the group headed into the woods, always following the path and taking extreme care not to stray from it.

They walked in silence, unsure of what to say now that they were so far away from home. What would their parents think when their parents found them missing? How long would it be before they could go back?. Considering how angry their parents would probably be, it might well be years before they could even begin to think about returning.  
At least Kevin would never find them out there, so far away from the neighborhood. That was the good part.

Sarah held Ed's hand tightly as they walked as though she hated to admit it, dark woods frightened her. She was relieved when Ed did not mind in the slightest when she grasped his hand and was amazed at how soft and warm her brother's hands were.

Nazz took point and walked a little way ahead of the rest of the group, while Edd and Eddy stayed in the middle of the convoy. Eddy would constantly glance backwards anxiously as if at any second he would see Kevin charging at him, ready to beat him to a bloody pulp. Sweat dripped in a flood down Eddy's shirt and his breathing was rapid and hard. "Chill, dude" said Nazz when she saw him trembling so hard "Its okay, Kev'll never find us out here ,so calm down dude, we're safe now and we'll find shelter soon".

But little did Nazz know that though they would indeed find shelter soon, whatever respite they found would be short lived. No one crossed Al Capone and lived. Al Capone's mob saw to that. And Al Capone's mob was tracking them down even as they spoke.

The walk was long and exhausting. Soon night rolled in and slowly the bright. clear sky became covered in a carpet of almost pitch black. The group had not gone far before they realized that trying to navigate through such a thick wood on such a moonless night would be near impossible, especially seeing as they could barely see the track which was their only guide for directions anymore. They were tired too, having been walking for the greater part of the day.

The group flopped down on a pile of fallen leaves, they were too tired to walk any further anyway. They lay there trying to catch their breath for a while.

It was hard to believe they were so far away from home. They had no idea where they were and no means of navigation. They could but wander helplessly and hope that fate would soon bring them to a place of safety. The long forgotten track was the only lead they had, they could but follow it and hope that it led out of the thick forest soon.

But what then?, they had no money and no possessions. Inns and apartments cost money and that was the hard truth of life. They were children too, and thus to find jobs would be a challenge. And if they drew even the slightest amount of attention to themselves, the local police would probably detain them and call their parents to come and pick them up. That would put their entire escape plan in jeopardy and Kevin would have their heads on a chopping board in no time.

Even if they were by some stroke of luck to find some sort of city, they were reduced to underage beggars who would probably starve to death in a matter of weeks.

Nazz had gone from being the only daughter of a wealthy family who lived in a large and comfortable mansion , to being a hobo. She had given it all up for the sake of being with Eddy. She had lost her head asking for trouble in an attempt to defend Eddy from the cruel injustice he suffered from.

But here, at least she was away from the cruel and evil bullies who she had never liked in the slightest. And at least that rapist known as Kevin would never find her out here.

Here at last, she could be with the only three people who she could call her friends. They may have had their flaws which did not make them very popular with the bullies, but at least they were not horrible bullies. They were genuinely good people who only meant well. Most of all, now she could be with her true boyfriend, and that was Eddy. Though no one knew this, Nazz would not be alive this day if it were not for the kind acts Eddy performed for her when they were younger.

These were the thoughts that circled through Nazz's mind as the group continued to walk through the woods the next day. They once again made camp when it got dark and tried their best to fall asleep despite the blood curdling howls they heard in the darkness. Ed made no attempt to regale the group with his scary stories, he knew it would only made the situation worse and weaken morale even further. The group walked mostly in silence, talking would have wasted energy and they needed every ounce of strength if they were going to get through this journey alive.

Day three was not much different and it was hard for the group to get out of bed, let alone continue to walk forward into the wilderness.

The group followed the path, and headed in the general direction of a bright light that glowed powerfully in the distance. It seemed however, no matter how far the group walked that they never seemed to get much closer to those lights. Never mind the fact that those powerfully glowing lights might not even be a city and the possibility the group might arrive at the destination they had trusted their life to only to drop dead in disappointment.

The group got hungry and thirsty, they were not lucky enough to find a river and even if they did it was too risky to trust untreated water as thirsty as they were.

And on day four, when they had still not found any sort of city, Nazz began to wonder whether it would have been better to have stayed in the "cul de sac" despite the threat Kevin posed to her and her friends. She felt as if her very soul was detaching from her body, her head throbbed with pain and her sight seemed to blur. Was she dying?

Nazz took one last look at her friends, it seemed they too seemed to be as delirious as she was. She took one last look at Eddy and held his hand. "Eddy" she confessed weakly "I'm scared". "I know Nazz" he replied weakly "but we've gotta hold on". "What's the point" asked Nazz angrily "we've been at it for days now."

I was wrong dude, we should never have left the "cul de sac". apologized Nazz, tears in her half closed eyes "I'm sorry Eddy, I was wrong".

"If we stayed" protested Eddy in a strong voice "we wouldn't be alive now because Kevin would have killed us all. Stop being negative Nazz, you're not a negative person. And what are we supposed to do, lie down and die?. If I'm going to die Nazz, I'm going to die trying. You can't just give up now, we've come so far."

"You're right" agreed Nazz, holding Eddy's hand "We have to try". I'm sorry for being so negative, we'll keep going, it can't be too far now"

Inspired by Nazz and Eddy's words, the group walked faster than they had done in days. It was another two hours before Eddy shouted loudly "I see it, I see it, I see a city".

All of Nazz's fatigue, hunger and thirst seemed to vanish and she told the group to go faster. The last few yards through the woods was made at a slow jog.

The group saw buildings, streets and cars. Things that they had not seen in what seemed like an eternity. They stared at the city as if they had never seen a city before, it was like a heaven for them. But their happiness was short lived as they began to ponder how they were supposed to buy anything, they had no money.

There was a hot dog stand not far from where they stood, but of course they had no money.

There was an ice cream stand too, but alas they had no money. Nazz had spent every last penny they had on the bus ticket they used to get here.

There were a whole multitude of other stands still serving food to eager customers who, despite the late hour had formed a long queue. But alas, the group were broke.

Nazz was not about to starve to death here and now, fourteen was far too young to die. She told the group to wait while she went and found some food.

Nazz turned her attention to a small bench where a lone man sat, with a box of what seemed to be kebabs and chips and another box which seemed to contain donuts. Nazz's mouth watered at seeing so much delicious food, the sight of so much food about to be eaten by someone other than herself was unbearable. Nazz would gladly have fought the man for the food, but she realized that in her weakened state that she was no match for such a muscular and tall man.

She decided to do this "the Eddy way". She checked once more to confirm there was no one else around before she crept up to a bush right beside where the man was sitting and threw a stone at the man. It hit the man hard in the stomach and he looked around furiously but could not see the thrower anywhere. Nazz then threw another stone at the man and this time the furious man sprang up from his bench and began to furiously march around, looking in every direction for the assailant. "You damn coward, get out here" he screamed angrily.

And when he turned away to look into the distance for someone to spring at and his sight left the boxes of food he had left on the bench, Nazz sprang into action and like a shadow, she darted towards the bench and seized the boxes with lightening speed before leaping back into the bush.

The man was naturally furious when he found his dinner missing and Nazz did feel a shade of pity for him, but alas, she and her friends needed the food much more and she was sure the man had enough money in his pocket to buy more food if he was so hungry. The man growled like a savage animal before furiously turning away and heading away.

Sarah and the Eds were reading a newspaper they had found in the trash when Nazz returned. "W, where did you get that?" demanded Edd when he saw the food.

"I took it" admitted Nazz very honestly, winking at Eddy. "But its wrong to take things that don't belong to you" reasoned Edd.

"Shut up sockhead and eat" shouted Eddy with his mouth full as he seized a doughnut and began to bite into it.

"Im in" cheered Sarah "Holy shamoly, this looks tasty" as she greedily grabbed a doughnut and began to cram it greedily into her gaping mouth. She was starving and did not want to go even one more second without food, wherever it came from.

"Me too Sarah" said Ed "boy this sure looks tasty" as he took one of the doughnuts and ate it, savoring every bite.

"I'm glad you think so dude" replied Nazz as she took her own doughnut and ate it. "You want one, double D?" she asked, holding out the last doughnut for Edd.

"W, well" stammered Edd, cold sweat dripping down his forehead "Um, I, I guess it wouldn't hurt. And I am very hungry by now". He nervously took his doughnut and plopped it into his mouth and slowly began to chew.

When the group finished the doughnuts, they divided the kebabs and chips between them. Each person got a few bites. It was only fair everyone had their share.

The group eventually found a fairly sheltered place under a bridge, where they settled down for the night.

"Great" muttered Eddy "Now we have to sleep under this stupid bridge with no bed. This kills".

"Don't worry dude" consoled Nazz "soon we can get jobs and then we won't have to sleep here anymore. We'll have a proper house with a proper bed and everything. But for now, lets just sleep. It's been a long day". Nazz yawned and went to sleep, holding Eddy tightly in her arms as she slept.

Ed, Edd and Sarah soon followed suit and fell fast asleep too, worn out by another long day of travelling through that seemingly endless forest.

As they fell asleep, they realized that though they had no money and few possessions, they had each other no matter what and that was very fortunate indeed.

They hoped Kevin would never find them here, so far from home.


End file.
